Translation of homonyms, synonyms and antonyms

(d) Sentence types

A very common transformation is the replacement of a simple sentence by a complex one and visa versa. Thus, while translating from English into Russian it often becomes necessary to render English structures with non-finite verbal forms by means of subordinate clauses, thus turning a simple sentence into complex, as, for instance:

I want you to speak English – Я хочу, чтобы Вы говорили по-английски.

I heard my mother go out and close the door (Salinger, The Catcher in the Rye) – Я услыхал, как мама вышла из комнаты и закрыла двери.

Here is a book for you to read – Вот книга, которую Вы должны прочитать.

The General’s a good man to keep away from (S.Heym. The Crusaders) – Генерал, конечно, неплохой человек, но лучше от него держаться подальше.

A subtype of this transformation is known as unification, or, conversely, division of sentences in translation, that is, a replacement of two simple sentences by one complex or compound and visa versa; cf.:

Thousands of Algerians tonight fled from the dead city of Orleansville after a 12-second earthquake had ripped through central Algeria, killing an estimated 1.100 people. (Daily Worker)

This is a typical “lead”, that is, the first sentence (and the first paragraph) of a news item which contains the bulk of the information the details of which are given below in the main text of the report (See the lectures on style). Such a device is alien to Russian newspaper articles, which makes it necessary to divide the English sentence into two or more Russian sentences, as below:

Сегодня ночью в центральных районах Алжира произошло землетрясение, длившееся двенадцать секунд. Число жертв, по предварительным подсчетам, составляет 1100 человек. Тысячи жителей бежали из полностью разрушенного города Орлеанвилля. (Note also а change in the order of sentences).

More rarely, unification of two or more sentences into one complex or compound sentence takes place, as in the following case:

The only thing that worried me was our front door. It creaks like a bastard (Sallinger, The Catcher in the Rye) – Одно меня беспокоило – наша парадная дверь скрипит как оголтелая.